(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement on ceramic knife sharpener, wherein a conventionally used solid ceramic bar is replaced with a hollow tubular ceramic bar and a support bar that has an outside diameter smaller than an inside diameter of the hollow ceramic bar is extended from a handle with a flexible tube being tightly fit over the support bar, and wherein when the hollow ceramic bar is to be fit over the flexible tube that is fit on the support bar, two collars, which are also fit over the support bar, are provided on opposite ends of the ceramic bar and an internally-threaded cap threadedly attached to the support bar to securely hold the ceramic bar to the support bar whereby when the knife sharpener is subjected to an impact force, the energy of impact is absorbed by the flexible tube and the collars to protect the ceramic bar from being broken.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional bar sharpener for knives is shown in FIG. 1 and broadly designated at 1, comprising a handle 11 having an end to which a sharpening bar 12 is mounted. The sharpening bar 12 is made of metals, such as stainless steel. Although the sharpening bar 12 is made of a material having a high hardness, it, after a substantial time of use, forms clear scrapes thereon by the knives sharpened by the sharpener. Further, since the knives to be sharpened by the sharpener may be made of a material having hardness similar to that of the sharpener, effective sharpening of the knives may not be realized. Another knife sharpener bar, which is shown in FIG. 2 and broadly designated at 2, also comprises a handle 21 having an end to which a ceramic bar 22 is mounted. The ceramic bar 22 is of a lighter weight as compared to the metal-made sharpening bar 12 and has hardness greater than that of the metal-made sharpening bar 12 and thus, improved sharpening result can be obtained. In other words, the knives can be made more sharpened in an easier and more effective manner with enhanced operation smoothness and convenience. However, the ceramic knife sharpener suffers a major drawback. For the general use of the knife sharpener, it is usually positioned in a location that is easily accessed by a user, which often causes the knife sharpener that is of a round configuration to fall off a corner or an edge of a fixture or a work table and hit the ground. For the metal-made knife sharpeners, hitting the ground does not cause serious damage to the sharpening bar, but for a ceramic sharpener, since the ceramic material is generally fragile, undesired impact, such as hitting the ground, may simply break the ceramic bar, totally destructing the knife sharpener.
Thus, it is desired to provide a knife sharpening device flat overcomes the above drawbacks.